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Essay Writing: In this article, we have brought for you the knowledge you will ever need to write a good essay. This article discusses what is an essay, Types of essays, Format of an essay, How to write an essay, Tips for writing a good essay, and the do’s and don’ts of writing a good essay. So read ahead to be a pro at essay writing.
What is an essay?
Academically, an essay is a formal piece of writing which talks about a specific topic and it conveys the ideas, information, argument, or experiences of the writer on the topic. So it is mostly personalized but in a formal manner.
The word essay is derived from the Latin word “exagium” which means “to present one’s case”.
Essays can accomplish one of the following aims:
The 7 Types of Essay Writing:
- Narrative essays: (to tell a story or course of the event) this type of essay narrates a story or experience of the writer in a chronological manner. This is purely formed from the thoughts of the writer. For example essay on a visit to a museum, a meeting with an IAS officer, etc.
- Persuasive essays or argumentative essays: (to convince the reader on a specific idea or opinion and to make the reader consider the argument of the writer) these essays present the opinion or idea of the writer in a way that could persuade the reader to agree with it. And that is why, these types of essays are generally backed by factual data, proves, etc. For example essay on the merits of democracy, why Technology is good for students etc.
- Descriptive essays: (to paint a picture for the reader) these types of essays describe the subject in a way that helps the reader to picturize the topic. For example essays about a person (famous personality, family members, friends, etc), a monument, etc.
- Expository essays: (to analyze the topic with facts) these kinds of essays are highly informatics and state all the facts, merits and demerits, and comparison of the subjects. For example essay on the effects of sports on students, should mobile be allowed in colleges, etc.
Expository are further classified into various types of essays like
- Compare and contrast essays: in which the various similarities and differences of the subjects are discussed and compared. For example, essay on which is better: drip irrigation or sprinklers.
- Cause and effect essays: it draws relationships between different subjects and tells how they are co-related and one affects the other. For example essay on how video games are affecting youth.
- Critical analysis essays: this type talks about every aspect of a topic and gives the final conclusion after analysis based on facts. For example essay on the effects of the new education policy on the Indian education system.
Format of an Essay:
An essay states all the factual data and arguments of the topic in a proper format. Given below is the universally accepted and most common way of writing an essay:
Introductory paragraph: (should comprise 15-20% of the full essay)
This is how to write the introduction of an essay:
- This is the first paragraph or the hook paragraph and is going to set the tone of your essay.
- Try to keep it interesting enough to grab the attention of the reader and “hook” them to read further.
- This part gives the definition and introduction of the topic in a single paragraph.
- You can also include the background and brief history of the topic if relevant.
- Further, try to hint in 2-3 sentences that what is going to be discussed further in the body.
The Body or Descriptive paragraph (should comprise more than half of the full essay)
- This paragraph presents a detailed argument, opinion, or description of the topic.
- It also states relevant data, facts, examples and proofs to support your idea.
- You can further divide the body into 2-3 paragraphs by grouping together the same types of information.
Concluding paragraph: (should comprise 15-20% of the full essay)
- This part concludes the topic by summarizing the findings.
- Keep it to the point and revolving around what you have already discussed in the body.
- Don’t start any new argument or story in the concluding paragraph.
- Never undermine your opinion i.e. don’t use sentences like “this is just my opinion”
- Don’t use phrases like “to conclude”, “in the end I would like to write”, “in conclusion” or “to sum up” etc.
How to write a good essay?
The three basic steps of writing an essay are:
Pre-requisite:
- Choose the topic.
- Explore about it from your information sources like the internet and books.
- Write down important findings roughly.
- Formulate a rough outline so that you don’t get puzzled while writing your final essay, and so that you know what things you want to talk about and when and how.
Write the essay: Once you have done your first step, this step becomes quite easy and mess-free. Type or write with pen and paper.
Review the essay: After writing the essay, the final step is to double-check for any errors or changes.
Tips to write a good essay:
- Write the essay chronologically and inflow: don’t write down the information randomly. Write in a way that dots connect to each other and the reader understands the flow of information correctly. First things first.
- Make sure the transition from one point to other is smooth and seems connected.
- Keep in mind the purpose of the essay: think over whether you want just a narrative kind of essay or do you want to persuade your audience and include the information accordingly.
- Consider the audience of the essay while writing: a good piece of writing is which the targeted audience can understand easily and relate to.
- Keep the language and vocabulary in sync with the audience: Writing a scholarly essay for school-going children which they won’t understand is no good. So keep the essay as simple as your audience can easily understand.
- Stick to the topic: an essay should generally talk about a specific topic or one or two interconnected topics.
- Keep the information correct: always double-check the information and facts you are providing. Never write anything you are not sure about.
- Revise and review: this is the last and most important step. Always review to catch the errors or mistakes you missed while writing, which is common. And this way, you can also check the flow of the essay and see if you want to omit or add anything.
Do’s and Don’ts of writing an essay:
Do’s:
- Cohesion, chronological order, and flow of the essay are most important.
- Double-check the grammar, spellings, and facts.
- Stick to the topic.
- Clearly state the things in medium-length sentences.
- Only write the information you are sure of being correct.
- Keep language and vocabulary simple and easy to understand for the audience.
Support your opinions with facts and proofs.
Don’ts:
- Don’t break the flow of the information by randomly writing the points.
- Avoid using complex vocabulary and language.
- Don’t give irrelevant information.
- Never be repetitive with the information.
- Don’t provide false information.
- Don’t be ambiguous and unclear.
- Avoid giving controversial personal opinions.
- Don’t include information that can be hurtful to someone.
We hope this information helped you. Try and you will be pro at formulating essays soon.
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